Cultivation Online

”I understand the situation,” Xiao Cangming muttered after a moment of silence. ”The balance between the two souls within her is broken, and they’re currently clashing with each other—trying to consume each other.”

”What?!” Yuan exclaimed in shock after hearing the last few words in Xiao Cangming’s sentence.

”Their souls are trying to consume each other?! This is the first time I’m hearing this! I was told they were only fighting for control of the body!”

If he’d known it was this serious, he would’ve taken this matter much more seriously and visited the Primordial Realm much sooner.

”Perhaps that might have been the case initially, but from what I am seeing right now, that is no longer the case.”

Xiao Cangming looked at Yuan and asked, ”How much do you know about our Asura Clan’s powers?”

Yuan closed his eyes to ponder, ”The Violent Nebula Physique, right? Come to think of it, I don’t actually know much about it, other than the fact that it makes you immune to physical attacks.”

Xiao Cangming nodded and explained, ”That’s normal, since we didn’t tell you about it. Of course, it’s not like we were trying to hide it from you. Honestly, even we didn’t know much about our own physiques in the past. However, as we continued to study and experiment with it, we’ve grown to understand our physique much better now.”

”Anyway, our physiques’ true power lies in ’reincarnation’.”

”What…?” Yuan’s eyes widened in shock.

”Reincarnation,” Xiao Cangming repeated calmly. ”But it comes with strict limitations and conditions that we still don’t fully understand, even now. And so far, only one member of our family has ever experienced it.”

”You mean Xiao Hua?”

”Yes, and she has experienced reincarnation more than once.”

”How does it work?” Yuan asked.

”Well, we call it reincarnation, but it technically isn’t true reincarnation,” Xiao Cangming explained. ”She doesn’t return to the cycle to await rebirth like others do. Instead, she’s more like a phoenix—revived after death, her soul never truly departing.”

”Then how does she return?”

”After her death, her soul will wander the world until it finds a suitable vessel—usually before they are born. Once the conditions are fulfilled, she would take over that body, hence two souls in one body, and depending on the two souls’ compatibility, they will either exist in harmony or…” ”They fight for control,” Yuan sighed.

”But there’s something that I don’t understand,” he then said. ”Xiao Hua’s soul should be incomparably stronger, so why does it seem like she’s struggling?”

”It’s not that she’s struggling. If she truly wanted to consume the other soul, it wouldn’t take any effort. However, doing so could cause irreparable harm to the body. Most importantly, since she is aware that it isn’t her true body, she’s trying her best to hold back.”

”So she’s actually trying to stop herself from consuming the other’s soul right now?”

Xiao Cangming nodded. ”Yes. Unfortunately, her soul is so powerful that once the process begins, she must constantly suppress herself. If she falters even for a moment, the other soul will be devoured. As for the other soul… she’s subconsciously trying to fight back, even though it’s doing more harm than good.”

”How often does this happen? And is there a solution to it?” Yuan then asked.

Xiao Cangming closed his eyes and sighed, ”This is the second time it’s happened, and she’s reincarnated over a dozen times. There are only two ways we can fix this. Either Xiao Hua’s soul consumes the other and takes permanent control of the body, or we remove Xiao Hua’s soul and place her into a different vessel.”

”...”

After a moment of silence, Yuan asked, ”What did you do the last time?”

”Xiao Hua consumed the other’s soul since that was the only option we realistically had.”

”Another question. Her personality… Who have I been talking to this entire time? Is it Xiao Hua, or the other soul? Or do they swap from time to time?”

Xiao Hua’s personality had remained largely consistent throughout their time together—aside from the moment of her awakening. From that, Yuan deduced that only one soul had been in control until the awakening, likely the body’s original soul. Still, he needed confirmation.

”For her new vessel to be compatible, the soul must closely resemble Xiao Hua’s—particularly in personality,” Xiao Cangming explained. ”To maintain harmony, Xiao Hua must also share her memories with the vessel’s original soul. So even though two souls inhabit one body, they essentially become a single being. In simpler terms, her persona is a fusion of both. Even if the souls were separated, they wouldn’t differ much from each other.”

Hearing this, Yuan finally understood why Xiao Hua could seem like an innocent little girl at times, yet mature and cruel at others.

”That said,” Xiao Cangming continued, ”this only holds true when the souls remain in harmony. The fact that they’re now in conflict means one of them has changed—so drastically that they’re no longer compatible.”

”So, what should we do, my lord?”

Without hesitation, Yuan responded, ”Naturally, we’re going to separate them.”

”Then we will need to find another vessel for Xiao Hua.”

”Does it have to contain another soul?” Yuan then asked.

”That condition is only for when she reincarnates. Since we’re simply relocating her soul, a soulless vessel will work just fine.”

Though it might sound complex or unnatural, the process was akin to that of a God Ascension cultivator whose physical body had been destroyed and required a new vessel.

”Do you happen to have an empty vessel lying around—or enough materials to create one?” Yuan asked.

Xiao Cangming shook his head.

”Unfortunately, we’re still in the Primordial Realm, so things like creating a new vessel are simply unfeasible, as we need more than just spiritual energy.”

”Are you telling me that I have to leave the Primordial Realm to obtain a new vessel for her? Even if I can do that, I don’t think we’ll have enough time for that.” Yuan rubbed his eyes in a stressful manner.

However, before Xiao Cangming could respond, Feng Yuxiang’s voice resounded, ”Young Master, if I may… we might already have enough resources to craft Xiao Hua a new vessel if we consider the treasures we already own—mostly mine.”